Story Highlights

The prospect of a municipal ordinance to ban feeding of wildlife, specifically elk and deer, aimed at protecting the animals and lowering the number of traffic accidents involving the lumbering ungulates seems to surface every few years as more carcasses pile up on the side of roads around Alto and Ruidoso.

One was proposed in 2010, was resurrected in 2012, and now the subject of the growing populations of deer and elk is being discussed again, although the approach may be different this time. Officials with the New Mexico Game and Fish Department aren’t ready to release details, but plan a presentation to the village council at some future date.

Village General Services Director Jeff Kaplan has been acting as a go-between with the game department, the council, code enforcement, which picks up most of the dead animals, and the village parks and recreation department, whose officials all have mentioned the danger of encounters with deer, especially on roadways.

Although statisics from village code enforcement officers were not available Thursday, Kaplan in December 2015 said “in the past couple of years, our statistics indicate that over 500 deer or elk have been removed and disposed of by the village that were hit by vehicles (within the village limits). It has been pointed out to me by trained wildlife officials that the resident population (of mule deer) appears to have grown to a point where there are more parasites and deformities appearing.”

He said the number of deer versus vehicle crashes went up significantly that year and the town was on track to surpass the previous year’s number.

“The growing consensus is that it is due to the deer becoming domesticated in the village,” he said. “It is not just out on the highways where deer and car collide. It is in town, as well.

“We have been reminded by game and fish officials for years not to feed or interact in an active manner with wildlife. Over population of deer and elk cause damage to golf courses, ball fields and other recreation areas that must be repaired when damaged or rendered unusable by the concentrated defecation from these increased numbers in the herds.”

While past attempts have failed to muster support on the council for an ordinance, because of the strong emotional attachment of residents and tourists to the deer, elk and even bear, Kaplan said, “I have lived and worked in the village for over seven years and I have had numerous conversations with residents that have lived here far longer. It has become evident to many that the deer population has grown well beyond the capacity for the natural support that one would expect for their population to be healthy and balanced.”

Several years ago, freelance journalist Laura Paskus dug into statistics from the state Department of Transportation and also wrote about innovative approaches to reduce encounters between vehicles and wildlife by erecting high fences along highways and constructing underpasses that could be used by a variety of animals to pass back and forth.

Signs warning about wildlife crossings to work require maintenance and responsible driving habits, she wrote.

“To work, projects need long-term maintenance. They also need travelers to actually pay attention. Those signs warning of crossing elk? Drivers passing through those migration corridors actually have to take extra caution, watch carefully and slow down,” Paskus wrote. “Not only that, but sometimes a barrier project works for one species, but not another. And of course, accidents just happen—and they always will.”

She also noted that in 2011, officials with the University of New Mexico, State Police and the game and fish department identified 54 road segments with the records of highest accidents involving large animals and vehicles. One was in Lincoln County and another in neighboring Otero County.

“The study showed that especially in rural parts of the state, collisions with wildlife are a significant problem,” she wrote. “The five most crash-prone roads are the Raton Pass on Interstate 25, which saw 83 accidents due to collisions with big game animals between 2006 and 2010; US 70 between Ruidoso Downs and Hondo, 77 crashes; US 50 in Cuba to New Mexico Highway 537, 73 crashes; US 64 between Tierra Amarilla and Chama, 60 crashes; and US 70 between Tularosa and Bent, 56 crashes.”